Race in the Pulpit

Race is one of the issues in many Canadian pulpits that I think is all too often ignored and deemed irrelevant both to the congregation and the pastor, yet this seems to be more of a fearful response than a calculated evaluative statement. Race is all around us and as a consequence racism is prevalent in every congregation because all of our congregations are made up of people. This might seem like a shocking statement, yet I know there are racists in my congregation because I am one. I can't really help that I am because at a certain level I was born into it. Just by the geographical location of my birth and the ancestry of my family I am a white Canadian male. This alone means that I am automatically afforded certain advantages in society just because of my race and because for a long time I participated in the ongoing granting of that power of privilege without question or hesitation. I told racial jokes and laughed at them when I heard them from others. But that is no longer the case and hasn't been for years, yet all that makes me is a recovering racist and each and every day I must confront the reality of my white privilege. Part of confronting that privilege is acknowledging in my own life where and when I encounter racism in my private and church life. It also means that it is an issue that I must preach on both directly and indirectly as well as in a manner which disarms people so that they can hear the message of how God's love is all inclusive. Racism in any for, including systemic and institutional, is not ok. A racist joke is not 'just a joke.' It is hurtful and a contribution to and sustaining of a system that seeks to make others less-than who they are.